


One Extra

by TenfamfromTV



Category: RWBY
Genre: Depends on if I like it or not, F/F, F/M, Might be doing some rewrites later, No beta we die like silver eyes!, OC, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-01-15 07:15:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21249506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TenfamfromTV/pseuds/TenfamfromTV
Summary: "Oh and one more thing. Due to this year's rather large group of tryouts, one partner group will have one more member. In simple terms, the first three to make direct eye contact will be partners for the next four years. That said, good luck, and try not to hit the ground too hard."What happens when our favorite four heroines have one extra teammate to deal with?





	1. The First Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So...first fic, pretty excited about it, thanks for reading. Next time is Emerald Forest, partners and other...stuff.

To say that Roan was nervous was definitely an understatement. Here he was, day one at Beacon, and yet he already felt way out of place.

'Okay, one more look for famous people. Aaaaand go!' He looked towards the other students and became utterly convinced he was dreaming when he saw Pyrrha Nikos. Again. For the third time.

'How can any of us go up against her? Seriously, she's got to be one of the strongest people here, if not THE strongest. The only one that I know that maybe could fight her to a stand still is...her'

His eyes shifted until they landed on snow white hair and piercing blue eyes.

'Need to stay on my toes around Schnee. Last thing I need is her trying to get me arrested.' Roan sighed heavily for the fifth time that afternoon, drawing the attention of the amber-eyed girl with the black bow.

She stared at him for a moment, then returned to her book. 'She's got the right idea, eyeing up the competition.'

The students were huddled up in Beacon's airship...place (Roan was never really good with technical terms for things) waiting for the headmaster to show up.

The others all seemed content to talk amongst themselves. Roan was fine with that. 'Hell, it's not like I've ever been much of a group socializer.'

Something hit him on the top of his head, tangling in his horns and then dropping to the ground. Turning, Roan found a blonde girl with purple eyes and a smaller girl with red highlights, wide silver eyes, and a shocked expression on her face.

"Yang, it's not nice to fling rubber bands at peop!e!" The blonde girl shrugged.

"It's not like they died when they got hit, Ruby. Besides, what better way to meet new people is there than mildly inconveniencing them and starting up a conversation? Nice to meet you, sorry about the rubber band, blah blah blah. I'm Yang. Yang Xiao Long"

Roan smiled and grasped the blonde's...Yang's offered arm. "Nice to meet you Yang. I'm Roan Undertree. And you're Ruby, I'm guessing?"

The silver-eyed girl nodded, fingering a trigger on what Roan assumed was her weapon. "Whatcha packing, short stack?" Ruby's eyes lit up and a grin grew impossibly wide on her face at Roan's question.

She triggered the release, and in a second flat, a massive scythe was in the girl's arms. Roan grinned. "Nice! Built it yourself?"

If it was possible, Ruby's smile grew even larger. "Yep! My uncle helped a lot, but the majority of it is my own blood, sweat, and tears."

"Well, from one weapon builder to another, you did a very nice job on this beauty." Ruby's smile was now threatening to reach up and grab her eyebrows. "Thanks!"

Yang chuckled. "Well, since my sister was nice enough to share, why don't you show us what you've got?"

"I think that's fair" Roan dropped his hands to his sides and drew Pineshard and Oakleaf. He was quite proud of them, though he still edited them from time to time.

The two weapons were both in ranged form, Oakleaf making a large revolver, whilst it's twin was an automatic pistol Roan had taken months to figure out the mechanisms for.

Ruby seemed entranced as she eyed them over, and Yang gave a hum of approval. Roan shook his head. "Not even done with the presentation yet and already you look bewitched." When Ruby didn't answer, he turned to Yang.

"Your sister's a weapon nut, isn't she?" Yang nodded, facepalming. "You should've seem her when Dad showed us his weapon. She couldn't stop talking and theorizing about how it worked for almost three months."

Roan flicked his wrists and both weapons spun. A large handaxe and an arming sword seemed to materialize out of the two firearms, which seemed to set Ruby off as she immediately began asking questions.

"What kind of rotors did you use? Are they self-sharpening? How often do you change the bolts out? What kind of oil do you clean them with? How many-" The girl's endless questions became muffled somewhat after Yang put her hand over Ruby's mouth.

Yang and Roan both sighed, in relief and in resignation, since Ruby's voice could still be heard, chattering away seemingly out of spite.

Thankfully, it seemed like the headmaster had finally decided to grace the group with his presence. 'He seems like he's got something to hide. Then again, I could just be imagining things.' Professor Ozpin raised a hand to quite the group and then spoke.

"Welcome to all of you. I'm so glad that you accepted our invitation to come here. However, not all of you will become students here at Beacon Academy. To become students here, first you must pass initiation."

Those words caused a large number of students turned tryouts to begin whispering and mumbling to one another worriedly.

'Can't have a world renowned school without an entrance exam.'

The headmaster waited a minute or two to let the whispering stop and then continued.

"I will tell you the conditions of the initiation when we arrive there, so as to prevent cheating amongst you. Now, if all of you could enter the dropship, we can get this started and over with before it gets dark. And trust me when I say, you do not want to be doing an initiation trial in the dark."

Roan sighed again. 'Today's going to be a total shitshow for everyone, isn't it?'


	2. Partners

When the drop ship landed on a cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest, Blake took stock of the other tryouts.

Most seemed nervous, pacing back and forth or fiddling with their weapons. One even seemed like he was nauseous. He was the first off, ducking off behind some bushes. Even through the ribbon on her ears, she could hear retching noises.

‘There’s always one with a weak stomach, isn’t there? Even back in the Fang, there’d always be one or two new recruits that were more than sque-‘

Blake clenched her teeth and silently chided herself as she stepped off of the airship. ‘Don’t dwell on those thoughts. It’ll just distract you...speaking of distractions.’

The blonde that Blake had been eyeing over was talking to the deer Faunus again.

‘I wonder if he’s noticed me yet. I really hope not. I don’t want to have to run again’

The headmaster made his way to the front of the group as the woman with the riding crop arranged the students into groups.

‘Me, the blonde, the other Faunus, the girl with the red cloak, Schnee, Nikos, hammer girl and her friend, and the kid with the weak stomach. Well, it’ll certainly be hard to stand out in this group if it’s a skill competition.'

As the last of the groups were organized, the headmaster began speaking.

“Now, I’m sure you’re all very anxious to know how the ceremony is going to work this year. Undoubtedly some of you think you know how it’s going to work, thanks to older students and alumni telling you how their initiation went. Unfortunately for you, we change it up every year. Got to make sure to keep you on your toes and all that. Now, your objective is simple. All you have to do, is enter the forest and retrieve one of the relics that lies inside. You will encounter our enemy underneath that canopy, so be sure to stay on your toes. You might have noticed we separated you into groups. That is to keep better track of all of you. Finally, the first person you make eye contact with once within the forest will be your partner for the rest of your time here at Beacon.”

The assembled students immediately began muttering and talking to one another, trying to figure out strategies to be partners with their friends.  


‘Definitely getting the blonde’

The headmaster then leveled his eyes at Blake’s group. He walked over to them.

"This only applies to your group. Due to this year's rather large group of tryouts, one partner group will have one extra member. In simple terms, the first three of you to make direct eye contact will be partners for the next four years. That said, good luck, and try not to hit the ground too hard. You’ll be the first group to go, so if you’d please follow Mrs. Goodwitch, we can get started”

=================================  
10 minutes later  
=================================

The Beowulf’s skull caved in as Yang proceeded to pummel it and the rest of it’s pack into dust with Ember Celica.

Only one stood now, oblivious to the world of pain it was going to be in when she got her hands on it. the

Seemingly from out of the shadows, a black ribbon wrapped around the offending Grimm, hoisting it into the air and whipping it towards a nearby boulder.

A flash of green and Roan stood before it, sword and axe raised. A howl of pain, a whirl of dust and it was gone.

Three pairs of eyes fell on each other as Yang eyed her fellow...groupies?

‘Nah that’s not funny. Huntsmen-in-training? Too long...Eh I’ll come up with something later’

Somewhere far off, a cannon sounded, marking that the three-person team had been formed.

“Guess that makes it official. You’re stuck with me now!”

Roan shrugged. “Better that than two people I don’t know. Speaking of which, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Roan.”

He raised his hand towards the somewhat startled girl with the black ribbon. She shook it as if she was holding a live grenade. “Blake.”

Yang grinned. “Nice to meet ya, Blake! I’m Yang!”

Blake turned and smiled nervously. “Nice to meet you too”

Roan turned and scanned the tree line, blocking the sun from his eyes. “Well, looks like we don’t have to worry about Grimm for the moment. I’ve never seen anyone tear into them so viciously before. Then again I don’t see people with gauntlets every other day either”

Yang grumbled. “The stupid bastards shouldn’t have touched my hair if they didn’t want to die.” Roan and Blake both exchanged glances.

“What? I don’t like things touching my hair without my permission.” Yang crossed her arms and proceeded to do an excellent impression of an angry child.

Roan chuckled softly. “Not the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard. Now that that’s been explained, what do say we get moving. It’s not like we’ve got an unlimited time limit here.”

Yang nodded. “Lead the way, I guess”

Something happened then that Yang couldn’t explain.

Roan froze, then slowly turned his head till he was facing Blake. Blake seemed caught like...well, like a deer in headlights, iironically.

Roan narrowed his eyes at her, then nodded slightly. Blake nodded back and the two began walking forwards.

Yang wisely didn’t question it, but did jog forward a little to catch up to her new partners. ‘These two are going to be very fun to hang around’

=================================  
5 minutes later  
=================================

“...then I socked him in the jaw and he went out like a light. The other goons let me walk out after that.”

Roan chuckled as Yang finished her story. “Smart guys.”

“Damn right! Now...how much farther do we have to walk before we get there? I’m getting kind of sick of peace and quiet in a Grimm infested forest.”

Roan stopped and tilted his ear. He could hear small arms fire and the pained yips of Beowolfs in the distance off to his right.

From what he could remember from his scouting run before he had begun picking through partner choices, the relics were in that vague direction. “We need to hang a right."

Yang whistled appreciatively. “Your hearing is ridiculously good.”

Blake perked up. “Faunus naturally have much better hearing than humans. They also have night vision, which makes them pretty popular among huntsmen rescue units.”

“That’s really cool! I wish I could see in the dark.”

“Oh stop you two, you’re going to make me blush. Come on, we’ve got to focus.”

At that moment, a red and white streak blasted up into the air, closely followed by a giant Nevermore. Yang immediately began running after it, cursing as she went.

Roan, confused as he was, started running after his gauntlet-wearing partner. The two were closely followed by Blake, who looked equally confused.

‘Blake.’ Roan grimaced internally. ‘God I hate having to talk about sensitive issues. Still, we need to talk after this is over.’

His musings were interrupted by Yang’s rather loud yelling, which at this point had seemed to alert the Nevermore in pursuit of the red and white streak. “LEAVE MY SISTER AND WHOEVER SHE’S CARRYING ALONE, YOU SHITTY EXCUSE FOR A BIRD!”

‘Oh. It’s Ruby. That’s why Yang’s so pissed.’

Roan grabbed Yang and Blake by their arms. “You two might want to cover your ears. This is going to be loud.”

With that, Roan activated his semblance. The world blurred as he pushed against the ground, then slowed until he kicked off a tree a hundred feet away.

‘Damn it! I’m too slow.’ The pattern continued, the deer Faunus kicking off of trees, boulders, and anything else he could get a foot on.

A minute later, the trio blasted into the clearing the Nevermore and Ruby had lifted out of. Roan stopped and kicked off of another tree to deaden the inertia before landing on the ground.

He turned to look at his partners.”You two okay?”

Yang looked frazzled, but she grinned at him as she stood up. Blake was a different story.

She had quickly taken her hands off of her ribbon the moment they had landed, and she was now massaging her ears as she paced. ‘Well, her visible ears at least.’

“Going to take the silence as a-“

“HEAD’S UP!”

Roan barely had time to hit the deck as the red and white streak dashed to the ground and the Nevermore swooped past and back up into the air, shrieking its displeasure.

Ruby sprang up off of the ground, tackling her sister in a bear hug. “Yang! I almost got eaten! It was awesome!”

“Try not to almost become a rose flavored appetizer anytime soon, okay Rubes?”

Ruby grinned. “Sure thing!”

“Will someone get me out of the dirt this instant!”

Ruby’s expression turned...well Roan couldn’t quite pin it down. It looked like she’d swallowed a lemon, and was halfway between choking on it or just hating it.

The silver-eyed girl turned and picked her partner up off of the ground, shocking Roan to his core.

‘Schnee?! I wouldn’t have wished her upon my worst enemy! She’s Ruby’s partner?!’

Yang seemed to share his sentiment, her facial expressions a mixture of well disguised shock and horror. He couldn’t tell what Blake was thinking, but he guessed it might be pity for Ruby and distaste for Schnee.

All five jumped slightly when the Nevermore shrieked again, and then paled (which was impressive for Weiss) when it was answered by the extremely agitated hiss of Death Stalker.

The hiss was immediately responded to by the crack of a hunting rifle, as well as what sounded like explosives of some kind.

“Yeah, whatever’s going on over there sounds fun. Also, I think the rest of our group is over there, so if we hurry, we can all get slaughtered together.”

Weiss looked at Roan. Well, more like in his general direction. “Oh really? We definitely couldn’t tell that for ourselves.”

The heiress began...running? Trotting? Jogging maybe? Roan wasn’t sure, but it definitely wasn’t running, since everyone else was able to quickly outpace her.

Soon the fighting was in view, and it was already ugly. Pyhrra was switching between firing at chinks in the Death Stalker’s armor and taking potshots at the Nevermore circling overhead.

Hammergirl was going at the large Grimm’s pincers and she had already knocked a good sized chunk of chitin off of the tips while ninja boy was firing at the Death Stalker’s tail.

‘Good thinking. That’d be a really shitty way to die’

Unfortunately, the stinger was still firmly attached, and Death Stalker armor was tough to get through as it was.

‘He’s got knives, so he should be able to slice through. If he could get an opening that is.’

Hammergirl dodged a swipe that went wide and smashed another chunk of chitin off of the scorpion.

The Death Stalker shrieked in pain and swiped at the boy firing at its tail

“REN! PINCER ON YOUR LEFT”

‘Okay. Ren. Easy to remember.’

Ren dodged as the giant scorpion swung with its pincer, attempting to crush him. Sword and shield boy took that moment to strike, just barely managing to cut the oversized arachnid’s tail off.

The still very much alive Death Stalker shrieked in pain and swatted him into a nearby tree. Pyrrha holstered her rifle and ran to check on him while Ren and Hammergirl focused on keeping the scorpions attention.

“Y’know, I’m thinking that maybe we deal with the giant bird and they can handle the really hurt Death Stalker. Anybody hate this plan?”

Weiss looked like she really hated Ruby’s plan but didn’t say anything.

“Okay then! Time to hunt some giant bird!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this is going well. Next time, Nevermore fight and the full team announcements. Stay tuned!


	3. Rubies

“You guys plan! I’ll try and keep Big Bird off you!” With that, the green-eyed Faunus shot towards a group of trees, springing between them before launching himself into the air, grabbing onto the Nevermore on his way up. 

Weiss sighed disapprovingly, then turned to her partner, who had already begun chattering about nothing in particular. 

“Are you quite done?” 

Ruby’s mouth clacked shut as three pairs of eyes turned to look at the exasperated heiress. 

“I mean, yeah. I like to think aloud. The plan’s simple. We’ve got a distraction, so all we need is for Roan to lure the Nevermore towards those ruins we passed by, then we can...” 

As Ruby continued with her admittedly well thought out plan, Weiss began to keep an eye on the Faunus that was currently raking his sword and axe down the oversized Grimm’s back. 

‘I’ll admit, I wouldn’t mind having him as a partner. He at least doesn’t seem to be so scatterbrained.’ 

“Okay, everyone ready?” 

The blonde girl grinned devilishly. “This is gonna be fun!” 

Weiss simply nodded as the four girls began running. 

“Yang! Signal Roan!”

“On it!” With that, the blonde sprang high into the air, using the recoil from her shotguns to reach Roan’s periphery.

Weiss began throwing glyphs so that the blonde wouldn’t smash herself into the ground. 

Roan’s head whipped towards his partner and seemed to nod at her shouting. 

It was rather hard to tell, as the Nevermore he was riding was trying its hardest to buck him off. The deer Faunus responded by burying his sword into the Nevermore’s right wing and firing his revolver into its back. 

The large bird shrieked in pain as Weiss proceeded to lower her compatriot down to the ground. As Yang got closer, she jumped and fell into step behind Ruby and the girl with the black bow.

=================================

Roan was maybe having way too much fun distracting the Nevermore. 

‘Seriously, this is way too easy. I can understand how the small ones could be dangerous,’ he mused as he turned the Grimm, using Pineshard to push the wing down. ‘But these things would probably be great for cross-kingdom travel if you could avoid alerting the whole flock.’ 

Roan watched as his partners, Ruby, and Schnee reached the edge of the ruins. 

He pushed harder on his sword, aiming the Nevermore at the large cliff face on the other side of the crisscrossing bridges and towers.

He jumped as it’s beak collided with the cliff, springing off of it’s back and down the bridge till he reached Blake’s ribbon, which was stretched between two pillars. 

Schnee launched ice dust, freezing the Nevermore’s tail to the structure at the base of the cliff, while Ruby launched her scythe into the ribbon, pressing it back until it touched the spinning black symbol thing that Schnee kept doing.

‘I guess that’s her semblance? A bit weird, but then again aren’t they all?’ Roan grabbed onto the scythe, pressing his feet against the ribbon.

“Think you can make the shot?”

“Can I?”

“Yeah, but like can-”

“Of course I can!” Schnee’s indignant shout at Ruby’s question caused Blake to smirk and Yang to chuckle loudly.

“Alright you two, eyes on the prize.” Roan’s chastisement caused both the heiress and the scythe-wielder to look sheepish before focusing on the giant bird at the end of the bridge

“PULL!” The glyph released, the ribbon snapped forwards and Roan pulsed his semblance. 

The combination launched Ruby and Roan forward so fast he thought that he had broken something. He spun, throwing Ruby forwards at even greater speed. 

Tired and aura-drained, Roan watched along with the rest of his group as Ruby struck the Nevermore in the neck and proceeded to run up the cliff with it.

When she reached the top, she pulled on her scythe, and the Nevermore’s head joined her. The Grimm’s body smashed down onto the ice coated building below before dissolving.

“Roan, you okay?!”

Roan grinned at the worried sounding blonde. “I’m fine, Yang. Just tired. We should grab the relic and GTFO before I pass out.”

“Hey, Ice Queen! Do you know where the relic things are?”

“The headmaster specifically stated that the teams must find the relics on their own! Were you paying attention at all during the explanation of the rules?!”

“Nope,” replied the blonde. “I was more worried about getting dropped into a Grimm infested forest.”

Schnee huffed and stalked towards the cliff, probably to grab Ruby. Blake was making her way towards the two, a concerned look on her face. 

Roan stood, then immediately felt his legs start to give out. “Nope, too fast.” Yang steadied him, slinging an arm over her shoulder. “Sorry. I know the vague location of where they are. I did a little scouting before I ran into you two. I think I can lead us there.”

“Sounds good to me. And hey, look on the bright side you two. At least we didn’t run a-fowl with any other big Grimm.”

“That was pretty bad, Yang.”

“I know. C’mon, let’s go grab our relic and rendezvous with the others.”

“Sounds good to me”

=================================

The trio eventually found their way to the stone structure Roan had spotted earlier. Surrounding the center, much to Yang’s amusement, were black and white chess pieces. She grabbed a white knight piece and the three made their way to the top of the cliff face for extraction back to Beacon.

Now they were standing in front of the small group of students who had been accepted and given their team names. Team JNPR, made up of the other members of their group, was already standing in the center along with the other select few to pass initiation

“Congratulations to Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Roan Undertree, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The five of you successfully retrieved the white knight pieces. As of today, you shall fight together as Team RUBYS, which will be lead by Ms. Ruby Rose. 

These teams are the lucky few that shall be attending Beacon for the next four years. Try harder next year if you didn’t make it. Teams, please make your way to the dorms. Your room numbers have been sent to your scrolls. Welcome to Beacon Academy.”

=================================

“Blake.” She froze at the sound of her Faunus partner’s voice. “Y-Yeah?”

“We need to talk”

“I figured we would. Follow me.”

The two made their way to a rather secluded section of the library. Blake had headed there after dropping off her luggage to check to see if it had some of the books she had to leave behind when she left the White Fang.

‘He must have followed me here. How did I not notice him?’

“W-What is it, Roan?”

“Don’t play games with me, Blake. I know what you are.”

Blake felt herself go pale. ‘Exits. Window. Doors. Fire escape.’

“Woah, woah. It’s okay, I’m not going to out you. I just wanted to talk, that’s all.”

“What about?”

“Look, I don’t know much about our culture. Hell, I probably couldn’t name the leader of Menagerie if he was staring me in the face, even if I do know what he looks like.”

‘Shit, he knows. Damn it, I knew I should’ve changed my last name.’

“I was just wondering if you could teach me some things. Mom and Dad did a good job with the old stuff, from before the war and during, but the current stuff isn’t as accessible where we live.”

That gave Blake pause. “What do you mean?”

Roan looked...embarrassed? “I live on a small island that’s on the big lake near Atlas. Not many Faunus in Solitas and even fewer near the ‘capital of prejudice’. I know next to nothing about anything current.”

‘Oh. Poor guy.’ Blake nodded, already going over what to teach him in her head. “What do you know already?”

Roan scratched the back of his head and seemed to ponder her question. “Well I know the basics about the White Fang. I know that the Schnees and the Atlesian elite really don’t like us. And I know small stuff, like it’s not okay to out someone as a Faunus if they’re hiding it, and it’s generally not okay to make jokes about a Faunus’s traits.”

“That’s a good starting point. Okay. I’ll teach you what I know. In return, please don’t tell anyone. It would be...really bad if anyone found out.”

Roan smiled sympathetically. “Don’t worry. It’ll be our secret. I think I’m gonna go check on everyone else now, just to make sure they aren’t going to burn the dorm down. Enjoy the library, Blake”

“I will, thank you.” As soon as the deer Faunus had moved out of sight, Blake let loose a sigh of relief. ‘Next time, don’t assume that they recognize you from Fang protests.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I was blanking on how the fight scene was going to work until this morning. Nonetheless, here you go. Next time, room and whatever else I feel like writing


	4. Small Issues

“Do they really expect  _ five people _ to share a room this small?!”

“Calm down, Weiss. It’s not that bad. Team JNPR’s room is smaller than this.” Ruby pointed out timidly.

Schnee, on the other hand, was not having it. “This is  _ ridiculous _ . I’m going to march straight into that headmaster’s office and-“

Roan chuckled, cutting her off before she continued. “What? Give him a piece of your mind? Money can’t buy you everything if the source of it is half a world away.”

Schnee turned on her heel, cold fire in her eyes. ‘Well she’s making eye contact with me now. That’s a first, though making her actually angry might not’ve been the greatest plan.’

But, instead of shouting at him, she huffed, turned back around, and began to unpack.

Roan had to admit, the room was pretty small for five people. There were five beds all aligned in a row on the back wall, as well as two large bookshelves and a giant segmented dresser. ‘Cool. Separated clothes.’

The five began putting up posters, books, clothing and a plethora of odd items. ‘Did Ruby have to bring her  _ entire _ weapon mod table?’ Eventually, a problem was brought up by Roan’s dark-haired partner.

“So, are any of you going to bring up the sleeping arrangements, or should I?” In their unpacking frenzy, they had managed to leave space for three out five beds, with little room for anything else.

Yang smirked. “Well, unless we girls want to snuggle up, we might have to put some of our stuff away.”

Schnee and Ruby’s faces both went crimson at Yang’s suggestion and Blake looked like she was trying  _ really _ hard not to laugh. Roan shook his head, a grin on his face. “Careful there Yang. You’ll give them both a coronary.”

“I’m Ruby’s big sister. It’s kinda my job.”

“We could always invest in some bunk beds.” All eyes turned to Blake. “What? It’s not like it would be hard”

“Y’know, she’s not wrong. If we could find some nails, I could probably whip up something sturdy.”

Schnee scoffed. “And you know so much about carpentry.”

“Actually, Schnee, my father owns a carpentry shop. He taught me everything he knows.” Schnee backed up half a step at his snide remark, but Roan couldn’t bring himself to care. ‘Who knows, maybe she’ll stop her complaining.’

A minute or two later, supplied with spare screws that Ruby was  _ pretty _ sure she wasn’t going to need, Roan had managed to rig four of the beds into sturdy looking bunk beds. 

“Alrighty, that should do it! Yang, you want to test it?”

“Hell yeah!” The brawler jumped, landing on the edge of the mattress, just barely avoiding falling off. Roan checked the posts, making sure they were all stable. “Looks like we’re good. Ladies, I present your brand new bunk beds! What do you think?”

“I love them! Thanks Roan!” Roan grinned at Ruby’s enthusiasm. “Not a problem at all, team leader.”

Blake seemed apprehensive, but steadily seemed more and more trusting of Roan’s craftsmanship when the bed didn’t collapse as Ruby sprang up to join her sister. Schnee didn’t say anything, just sat down on the bottom of the other bunk and began fiddling with her scroll.

=================================

The next few days went by, and the newly formed team began to develop a routine.

Ruby would be up first, followed closely by Blake, then Roan. It was usually a toss up between whether Weiss or Yang woke up next. Roan would hit the shower first, since he didn’t spend much time getting ready. After him would be Ruby, who would then rush downstairs to grab a spot for both RUBYS and JNPR to eat breakfast. Then both teams would head to class.

However, it was their very first day off today, and most of RUBYS was still asleep. Roan was outside, sitting on top of the dorm roof, pretending to watch the sunrise.

Schn...Weiss was behind him, trying her hardest to not alert him. Roan sighed and turned around. “I was wondering if someone would come up here. I must say, I wasn’t expecting that someone to be you.”

The heiress wouldn’t look at him, an expression of... _ shame _ on her face. She stared at the ground. “I must apologize to you for my...standoffish behavior. I believe we might have gotten off on the wrong foot, so to speak”

Roan smirked. “Might be putting that a bit mildly there, Weiss. Tell you what. I’m willing to start over if you are. On one condition.”

The heiress stared at him for a second, then nodded. “Alright. What is your condition?”

“Tell me what your father’s told you about the Faunus”

Weiss’s eyes went wide. “Why would you want to know  _ that _ ?”

“Look, I know your father hates my kind. It’s not like he, or the rest of Atlas, try to hide that little fact. I just want to know where you’re coming from.”

Weiss walked over to him then, and joined him in leaning on the railing overlooking Beacon grounds. She sighed, and then spoke in a soft voice. “He...he told me that you’re all a-animals that deserve to be locked up in c-cages. That you don’t deserve the island you were given. That you…”

Her knuckles were white on the railing, and she was sniffling a little. “...you should all be d-d...”

“Destroyed.”

She nodded. She looked so ashamed of herself, disgusted at her father. She continued on. “I used to hate the Faunus, but it slowly grew to indifference. Now, it’s...I don’t know what it is. The only Faunus I know I hate are the  _ White Fang _ .” 

Her voice changed from sorrow to cold fury in an instant.

“Why do you hate the Fang?”

“Every time they’ve stolen a Schnee Dust shipment, or killed a company friend, or anything that interfered with the company, Father took it out on me.”

Now it was Roan’s turn for his knuckles to go white, clenching the railing in anger. “He  _ what _ ?”

Weiss shrugged. “I was the only one he could. Winter was in the military, Mom was too drunk to care, Whitley practically worshipped him, and the servants were already changed out every couple of weeks because he’s so paranoid.”

“That doesn’t excuse it, Weiss. Parents shouldn’t take things out on their children.”

“ _ You don’t think I know that _ !”

Weiss immediately looked ashamed of herself at her outburst. “Sorry, I-I...”

Roan shook his head. “No need to be sorry, Weiss. Complex issues tend to make people less than pleased.” He sighed. “Thank you for sharing.”

Weiss nodded, staring blankly at the horizon. “You asked.”

“Yeah. Yeah I did. Sorry I snapped at you that first day.”

“I recall you saying something about starting over?”

“That sounds about right”

“Well then. Hello there, I’m Weiss Schnee.” She held her hand out to shake.

Roan grasped her hand. “Nice to meet you, Weiss. I’m Roan Undertree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that was the start of a beeeeeeeeeeeeeautiful friendship! Next time, I’ve got no idea! Maybe sparring? I’ll figure it out.


	5. Might and Magic

The library was quiet when Roan and Blake entered.   


The two headed towards an isolated table in the corner. Blake set a large binder down, opening it up to the back, noting the time and date on the timetable sheet.

“So, where would you like to start, Roan?”

The deer Faunus looked thoughtful for a minute or two, then looked back at Blake.

“How about Menagerie? If we’re going to start somewhere, might as well start there”

Blake nodded, and flipped through the binder until she reached the map of her home.

“Menagerie is full of people that just want to be left alone. It’s a safe haven for our people, a place where no one will judge you because you’ve got ears, or horns, or a tail. The Four Kingdoms gave it to us as a sort of ‘sorry we enslaved you’ _ gift _ .”

Blake practically spat the word, her voice and head full of anger and fury.

“That doesn’t seem so bad. We’ve got an island now. Didn’t they pass a bunch of Faunus rights decrees and stuff too?”

Blake nodded. “Yes, they did. But think about it. It’s not a very big island. You can walk from the north end of the island to the south in an hour. It’s two-thirds deadly, Grimm-plagued desert and the rest of it is jungle.”

Roan winced. “Jeez.”

“Exactly. A couple decades later, and the kingdoms began abolishing those decrees and started passing new ones, trying to centralize us in Menagerie.”

Roan’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding! Why would they try to...oh”

Blake smiled grimly. “Out of sight, out of mind. That led to the Faunus Rights Revolution. We fought back. Granted, we didn’t win much, but we managed to prevent being shoved together on Menagerie. We even got some of our protections back, but we didn’t get them all. After the FRR, it stayed pretty quiet on the island. Has been for years now.”

“What about the White Fang?”

Blake flinched, then silently chided herself. 

‘He wants to learn, and he deserves to know about them. Besides, eventually he’s going to figure it out if I keep reacting like that whenever the Fang is brought up.’

“The main headquarters of the White Fang is in Menagerie, and there were a few incidents involving Fang violence, but other than that, there wasn’t as much as there is now..”

Roan nodded. “Back on topic, I guess. How many of us live there? You said it was a safe-haven, so there must be a lot of Faunus there.”

“There are, although there are more Faunus here in Vale and in Vacuo than you would think.”

“I’ve got some cousins in Vacuo. We don’t visit much, because it’s a pain to try and get a flight there from Atlas.”

“I can imagine.”

Roan chuckled darkly. “It’s worse than you’re thinking. Honestly, you’d probably have it worse.”

He motioned at his horns. “These break off and grow back yearly. Taking them off a little early won’t hurt anything. Makes for a pretty good disguise. Mom and my sisters are a little harder to hide.”

“Atlas is worse than most places for Faunus. Mistral is better by a long shot, but neither can hold a candle to Vale.”

“So I’ve heard.” 

Blake felt her scroll buzz in her pocket at the same time that Roan’s let out a cheery little tone.

  
Blake glanced down at her scroll, reading the message on its lock screen.

**RR: Can you guys meet me in the sparring room?**

‘Wonder what she’s got planned.’

=================================

‘I really hope this works. The last thing we need is infighting in the team.’

The girl cloaked in red paced back and forth in the middle of the sparring room, going over her plan silently.

The door’s hinges squeaked as Yang and Weiss entered the room. Both looked slightly concerned at Ruby’s pacing, Yang more than Weiss, but Yang was her sister for a reason.

“Oh, hey guys! Guess we’re waiting on Blake and Roan then.”

“They were in the library, I think. Blake said something about helping Roan with some history stuff he was having trouble with.”

The heiress scoffed. “As if he needs help. He answered almost all of the questions correctly on the pop quiz that Professor Oobleck gave us the first day.”

“Whatcha thinking, Ice Queen?”

“Firstly, don’t call me that. Second, I’m not too sure. I’ll need evidence before I can say anything definitive.”

The door squeaked again, Roan and Blake walking into the room, their bags filled to the brim with books.

“All righty, looks like we’re all here! I’m sure you’re all wondering why I called you here on this fine afternoon. The reason is...I want us to know how each other’s semblances and weapons work.”

‘Dang it. They all look confused’

“We’ve fought together already. Did you forget the trial? Or that boarbatusk Weiss thrashed in Port’s class? We’ve all got a pretty good handle on how they work, I’d say”

“No, Yang, I didn’t forget the trial or the boarbatusk. Still, we don’t know specifics on each other’s skill sets, which is super important when making team moves!”

“And what, pray tell, is a team move?”

Ruby felt her eyes gleam as she grinned as excitedly as she could. “I’m so glad you asked, Weiss! Could you help me with a demonstration?”

The heiress nodded uncertainty. “What do you need me to do?”

“Tell me how your symbol things work”

“My glyphs? They are primarily affected by the type of dust I am using in Myrtenaster. Normally they can push things within their area, but they can also have the opposite effect when gravity dust is used. Thunder dust is time dilation and there are a few other uses that I’ve been experimenting with”

“Okay...could you form a line of your normal ones?”

The team watched as Weiss lifted her hand and five large glyphs appeared on the floor.

‘Man that’s cool!’

“Next, let’s do Roan. You’ve got speed too, right?”

Roan nodded as his aura pulsed. “Something to that effect. I call it Longstride. I can push off of hard surfaces and go really fast. It can be the ground, the wall, it just has to be solid enough for me to kick or push off of it.”

“Alright then. Use your semblance and run through Weiss’s glyphs. Weiss, I want you to speed him up as much as you can.”

Her partner looked uncertain. “What if he crashes into the wall?”

“Good point. Uh, Yang can you take the hit? Then you can explain yours to them.”

Yang thought for a minute. “It would depend on how strong Roan’s horns are and how fast he was going.”

“I’ve been able to kill Grimm using nothing but them and my semblance if that’s anything to go off of.”

‘Uh oh. That’s her ‘I’m about to do something dumb’ smile.’

“Yeah, I can take that. Probably. Let me give you a target, Ice Queen.”

After she got into position, Weiss’s glyphs began to spin as Roan’s aura gathered around his feet.

“Ready...steady...GO!”

Ruby could barely keep track of Roan as his foot hit the first glyph. By the time he had reached the last glyph in the line, he was a brown blur with a dark green trail.

As he slammed into Yang, a small blast of fire and smoke engulfed the two.

“And that is a team move, Weiss.”

“Yang!”

“Oh, don’t worry Blake. She’s fine.”

A fiery yellow outline appeared in the smoke and began walking towards them. When Yang exited the smoke, everyone but Ruby gasped. Her eyes were bright red and her hair was aflame, a clear sign that her semblance was active.

“Uhh, Yang? Are you okay?”

“I’m more than okay right now. Someone give me something they don’t mind getting destroyed.”

Ruby hit a button by the door and several sparring dummies rose out of the floor.

Yang sprinted to the nearest one, reared back, and punched clean through the dummies’ chest. She then turned back to her stunned teammates and a rather bored Ruby.

“Awe come on sis. You didn’t enjoy the show?”

“Oh please. I’ve seen you do waaaaaaay worse than that! And judging from the smoke cloud, you got hit way harder than that by Roan”

“I don’t want to destroy the sparring room”

“...I think this is why you’re the older sister.”

Yang nodded sagely, then turned towards Blake. “You’re the last one. Got something showy for a finale?”

“Depends on what you’d call showy.”

She dropped into a combat pose, arms spread slightly out to her sides.

“Come at me, Yang. And don’t hold back.”

‘Does she have a death wish?!’

Roan and Weiss both paled, and Yang grinned one of her numerous “danger-smiles”

With a yell, she launched herself at Blake, her right arm drawn back to launch the black-haired girl into the next couple of rooms. 

Right before her fist made contact, Blake faded, leaving behind a shadowy clone of herself. She reappeared a foot away, her aura flickering to view for a moment.

Yang’s fist hit the clone square in the jaw, destroying in completely.

“That  _ could  _ be called showy. Anything else it can do?”

Blake relaxed and walked back to the group, shrugging. “I can use them to get up to high places quickly and I  _ think _ I can infuse them with dust. Never had enough to try. You never explained yours, Yang”

“Oh right. Basically, the harder I get hit, the harder I hit back. It flares up sometimes if I’m super angry or upset. Breaking stuff usually follows.”

“Nice job, everyone! Now…”

_ Bam bam bam _

‘Damn it. Anyone else would’ve been fine. Had to be the jackasses.’

Team CRDL was arrayed behind the training room door, looking expectantly at her.

“What do you want Cardin? I called the training room till 4:30.”

“Not what I’m here about, Red. My buddies and I need to have a little... _ conversation _ ...with your  _ pet _ .”

‘He didn’t...oh no.’

“ ** _What was that?_ ** ” Yang, Blake, and Weiss turned towards the four boys, venom in their words.

Roan sighed. “Don’t worry about it, guys. I’ve heard worse. And as entertaining as it would be to watch the four of you kick their asses, it wouldn’t help much. Now, Cardin, how can I help you?”

‘Never heard Roan talk like that before...might be something to check on later.’

Cardin sneered. “If you thought there wouldn’t be trouble here, you’re in for a rude awakening. Just because you passed the entrance exam doesn’t mean you get to stay.”

“What? You gonna try leveraging money at the school to get me kicked out? Cute. Useless, but cute. Use that tiny little brain of yours, Cardin. If Beacon cared about money, wouldn’t we all have to pay to get in?”

Cardin looked  _ pissed _ but also a bit smug, which was less than comforting.

‘He knows something…”

“Just thought you at least deserved some warning before you got kicked out. See ya later.”

The team was a mix of emotions. Roan was confused, Yang and Weiss looked like they wanted to commit manslaughter and Blake...she looked  _ scared _ .

‘Whatever he knows, it can’t be good.’

“C’mon guys. Let’s head back to the room.”

Her teammates nodded and followed her out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writer’s block is my new least favorite thing. Expect more chapters later on this week. Next time, a team discussion.


	6. Message

The shattered moon hung low in the sky as the five made their way back to the dorm room. They were quite, minds racing of things that Cardin could have been alluding to. As they entered the hallway they shared with JNPR, Roan started, his eyes snapping to the door of RUBYS room. ‘Please don’t be buzzing’

“Roan?” Blake’s voice was low, obviously still in thought. “You okay?”

“Depends, o partner mine.”

“On what exactly? If it’s Cardin’s threat, you can bet that we’ll back you up on this.”

“It’s not his threat...has anyone checked the news recently?”

Weiss sighed heavily and glared at Ruby. “No, because someone decided that I’d be distracted during sparring practice if I brought it with me.”

Ruby grimaced. “Well, whenever you check the news it always seems to put you in a bad mood. You get all…”  
The team leader stopped then, a slightly terrified expression on her face, as Weiss had put her hand on Myrtenaster’s hilt.

“Did you have more to say, Ruby?”

“Nope. Not a thing.”

The Ice Queen nodded and moved her hand away from her weapon as they entered the room.

Buzz buzz buzzzzzzzz

‘You’ve gotta be shitting me’ Roan thought as his heart went cold.

=================================

Blake moved to her bed, grabbing one of her few books from the bookshelf she had ‘borrowed’ from the library. She stopped moving when a faint noise reached her ears.

Buzz buzz buzzzzzzzz

‘What the hell is that?’ She turned to find the source of the noise and found her Faunus partner pulling what looked to be a briefcase out from under his bed.

His symbol, cast in some dark brown metal, was emblazoned in the center of it.

This new development drew the other’s attention, though no one asked what it was as Roan opened it frantically, his face fearful.

The inside of the briefcase was...odd to say the least. It reminded her of a laptop, if the laptop’s screen was shortened, with dials and smaller screens surrounding it. The bottom of the briefcase contained what seemed to be a typewriter, which connected to the top half with several multicolored wires. 

As far as Blake could see, the largest screen read: “FE = R + WF; D + U = SP; M = AC”

“Some sort of code?” Blake asked as she moved closer to get a better look.

Roan nodded, his face pale. “S-something like that. My family uses these to communicate when we’re away from home. No CCT service out there, so we use these”

Weiss’s eyes narrowed. “And why is that?”

He didn’t look up from the screen. “Atlas blocks it. Don’t ask me why.”

“I see. Well, what does the message say then?”

The deer faunus stayed quiet for a solid minute before answering. “It’s to do with Cardin’s threat,” he said in a quiet voice. “And you especially are not going to like this.”

“Roan, we’re a team. No matter what’s going on, we’ve got your back, right guys?” Ruby put a hand on Roan’s shoulder as she spoke.

Blake nodded as Yang mirrored her sister on Roan’s other side. Three sets of eyes then moved to Weiss, one silver, one lavender, and one amber. The heiress sighed, stood up, and walked over to her teammates. She huffed and then sat.

Roan exhaled a breath he’d apparently been holding and nodded once. “Thank you...I...You deserve to know.”

Roan turned one of the several dials and the largest screens message changed. It looked like…

“Faunusi?! Your family knows Faunusi and yet you don’t know any of our history?”

The room went quiet. Too quiet. ‘Shit did I...oh no…’

“I...I…” Roan stood up and grasped Blake’s shoulders. “Hey, it’s okay. It is okay. Or it will be. Look at them.”

‘Nope...have to run...have to...STOP. They don’t know about the Fang. No reason to run.”

Slowly, Blake turned to face her teammates. Ruby looked surprised, as did Weiss. Yang on the other hand had a soft smile on her face.

“You knew?”

Yang’s smile morphed into a grin. “Kind of hard to not notice when your bow twitches every time Oobleck mentions the FRR”

Blake scowled. “Crazy bastard is only getting half the story.”

Yang and Roan both chuckled. Weiss then stood, facing the amber-eyed Faunus and her partners.

“Blake...I...I would like you to know that I respect you as a person, no matter what race you are.”

‘Unexpected. Not unwelcome, but very unexpected.’

“Thank you Weiss. That means a lot. Ruby, do you have anything to add?”

Ruby looked at her hard, then down at the ground. “Tell me to screw off if I’m overstepping but...can we see your ears?”

Again, the room went quiet as the other’s awaited Blake’s answer. “...Under one condition. None of you are allowed to pet me. Not even you, Roan.”

The deer Faunus tilted his head, looking confused. “Is there an exception for Faunus sometimes?”

Blake sighed. “I’ll explain later. Now, is everyone alright with that?”

After receiving a nod for everyone, Blake took a deep breath and put a hand on her bow. ‘It’s okay, they all accept you, it’s okay…’

For the first time since she arrived in Vale, Blake’s ears twitched in the open air.

There was no outburst, no immediate bigoted anger. 

The only thing Blake could see on her teammates faces was pride in her and happy acceptance.

Roan cleared his throat. “To answer your question from earlier Blake, I have no idea. Mom and Dad knew it and taught it to us. Didn’t even know what it was called until just now.”

Blake nodded, her mind spinning with explanations. “Where are your parents from?”

“Well Dad’s an orphan, so who knows. Mom on the other hand is from Vacuo.”

She nodded again.

“I’m going to read this now, if no one else has anything to add.”

He paused for a moment, and then began reading.

“Family emergency...Th-The White Fang has b-brainwashed Russet. D-dad and U-umber are searching for her. From Mom”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who’s back? Back again? Tenfam’s back.
> 
> Sorry about the month long hiatus. I’ve been on the road a bunch over this holiday season, visiting relatives and the like. That being said, this fic is back in session.


	7. Sisters

“Man, what a freak!”

“Please stop. Just leave me alone.”

To say that Weiss Schnee was livid at Cardin’s treatment of Velvet would be an understatement. Her teammates weren’t much better. Yang’s eyes were bright crimson, Blake’s bow was flat on top of her head and Ruby looked murderous.

Roan on the other hand hadn’t seemed to notice. The heiress couldn’t bring herself to blame him though. He looked terrible. 

His eyes were glassy and bloodshot and his hair looked like he’d run through a wind tunnel. ‘I’d probably look fairly horrible as well if Winter or Whitley were involved with those monsters.’

He’d taken every free moment he could to message his mother with that device of his, often staying up extremely late. She would know, as she often stayed up as well, going over her lengthy, self-imposed schedule, or thinking about ways to avoid her father’s calls. 

Father had tried to call her at least a dozen times since the initiation ceremony. The first time he called her, she’d answered. ‘Stupid. What an idiotic idea.’ The call had consisted of many expletives on her father’s part, on account of her not being team leader and about Roan being on the team.

‘At least he doesn’t know about Blake. He’d pull me out of Beacon tomorrow if he knew that Blake was a Faunus too.’

“It’s got to be hard being a Faunus in this world.” Yang mused. Blake scoffed. “You have no idea Yang. None at all.”

“I’m not going to ask again, Cardin!”

“What’re you gonna do bunny girl? It’s not like you can-“

A sound like a gunshot echoed through the cafeteria. 

Where Cardin once stood was Roan, as well as a still furious Ruby. Rose petals and oak leaves ran in a line from where they were sitting towards where they were standing. The mace-wielder was now embedded in the wall in front of them, a look of surprise on his face.

The deer Faunus’s eyes were blazing as he turned to look at Velvet. “You okay?”

She nodded, then glared at Cardin. “Thanks for that Roan. You too Ruby.”

The redhead grinned. “No problem. I’ve been wanting to do that for forever.”

“WHAT ON REMNANT IS GOING ON HERE?!”

Weiss grimaced as Glynda Goodwitch marched towards the scene of the crime. Roan and Ruby had the decency to look sorry, whilst Cardin smiled evilly.

‘Not on my watch.’

“Yang, Blake, come with me. We’re going to go help.”

The Bumblebee pair had the gall to look at her like she’d started growling like an Ursa. She glared at them and stood. “Well?”

The two stood after a moment and the trio ran to their leader and teammates’ aid.

Goodwitch had already started in on Cardin by the time they arrived. “...and if I ever see you so much as LOOK at Ms. Scarlatina again I will have you expelled! As for you two…”

Weiss cleared her throat as she approached. “Mrs. Goodwitch, I implore you to be merciful. Cardin has had it coming for a good while, I’m sure you know. Ruby and Roan were only trying to help Velvet. Cardin had ahold of her ear and was pulling on it rather hard while saying just awful things and…”

Goodwitch held up a hand. “I’m quite aware of the situation, Ms. Schnee.” She leaned away from Cardin so he couldn’t hear her as he stormed off. “I was going to say, a very excellent job well done you two. That and the headmaster would like to speak to you, Roan.”

=========================================

The whole team had an aura of nervousness about them as they entered into Beacon’s clock tower. Yang could see Professor Ozpin pacing to the right of his desk. He looked up as the group approached.

“Ah. Thank you for coming, Mr. Undertree. And I assume you ladies are here to provide support for your teammate?”

Yang nodded, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw the others nod as well.

The headmaster sighed, then sat behind his desk. “Very well then. If you would all have a seat, then we can get started.”

The team sat, Roan in the middle, with Blake and Yang to his immediate right and left.

“Now, Mr. Undertree, I’m sure you’re aware of what happened to your sister?”

Roan nodded, but said nothing.

“The council is also aware as to what has happened. They have requested that I expel you from Beacon, never to return.”

The deer Faunus stiffened. Yang did her best to not glare daggers at the headmaster.

Ozpin smirked. “You need not worry, Miss Xiao Long and Miss Belladonna, I have no intention of doing anything of the sort.”

‘Well that’s a relief.’

“The reason I called you here is because I believe your sister is in Vale.”

Roan perked up. “What? Why?”

“That’s what I want you to find out. I also want you to convince your sister to leave the White Fang. They are dangerous, as well as desperate, and I would like to get rid of the possibility of them using her as leverage against you.”

“Yes sir, I understand. Thank you for not expelling me and for giving me a chance to save my sister.”

The headmaster smiled warmly. “You’re most welcome, Mr. Undertree. Be cautious out there. I wouldn’t want to have to send Ms. Goodwitch out after you.”

Roan nodded and stood. “Is that all, sir?”

“For you, yes.”

‘Oh boy, here comes a lecture’

“Ms. Schnee, as this is a rather personal matter, would you prefer to have this conversation in private?”

From where Yang was sitting, it seemed quite clear that the Ice Queen had gone white as a sheet. Ruby placed a hand on her shoulder, as did Roan, who was standing behind her. Weiss shook her head shakily.

“N-no thank y-you headmaster.” She jerked her head towards the others. “They’d figure it out e-eventually.”

The headmaster nodded, his expression dark. “I’m sorry to say that your sister, Winter, has had an accident. She’s stable, for now, but as of this morning she hasn’t woken back up. She was involved in a training exercise that involved large amounts of Dust in one location. Somehow, it detonated, wounding several others including your sister.”

Yang’s heart went out to the heiress, who looked like she’d just been punched in the gut. The brawler turned to Ozpin. “That everything?”

He nodded, then sighed sadly. “Yes Ms. Xiao Long, it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens, I suppose. Nevertheless, it might be a little while before I post again, as I’m going to try and give you guys some longer chapters. 1k words is enough to write a story, but it’s hardly a nice long read is it?
> 
> Stay tuned


	8. Pain

“You are not coming with me.”

“Like hell we’re not! You can’t go up against a group of terrorists on your own!”

Blake sighed for the fifth time since getting back to the dorm. Weiss and Ruby had gone off somewhere, leaving her to deal with her thick headed partners.

“Enough. It’s obvious to me that you two won’t be able to agree on this, so allow me to cut in.”

Roan and Yang glared at each other before looking at her expectantly.

“Firstly, Yang you for sure aren’t going with him. If the Fang see that you’re human, they’ll try to kill the both of you. Second, Roan you aren’t allowed to go alone.”

The deer Faunus scoffed. “And who do you propose to go with me?”

Blake steeled herself, prepping her mind for the pain that was sure to surface. ‘It’s just memories. Nothing more.’ she thought angrily

“I...I’ll go with you to fight the Fang.”

Immediately after the words had left her mouth, flashes entered her mind. Images of things she’d seen, things she’d done, and in the center of it all was him.

“Blake...why did you run from me?”

“No no no.”

Panic and fear ran through her like electricity. She felt hands on her, grabbing at her, pulling her forward, closer to him.

“I won’t stop until I find you Blake. You can’t hide what you did forever, and when they find out they’ll want nothing to do with you. They won’t stop me when I come to bring you back to where you belong, right by my side.”

The mark that he had left burned like acid, cold and piercing.

She screamed until her throat was raw as she was dragged, closer and closer to him, until everything went black.

=================================

“Weiss! Please wait!”

She didn’t answer, just kept walking forward, trying to lose her partner in the corridors of the school. She had to be alone. She had to get away.

Unfortunately, her thick-headed dolt of a partner seemed to be ignoring her obvious need to be alone, prompting her to walk faster.

‘There! An empty classroom!’

She practically slammed the door open and closed, entering quickly.

At first she heard nothing, but after a minute or two there was a quiet tap at the door.

=================================

She opened her eyes, then shut them, grimacing in pain. She heard movement to her right.

“Roan, she’s up.”

More movement from...somewhere. She couldn’t place it. A voice sounded next to her, quiet and low.

“Hey Blakey. How ya feeling?” It was Yang, worried about someone else, as usual.

“Tired” She grimaced at how cracked her voice sounded, and at the pain in her throat. “What happened?”

She heard Roan sigh. “Not sure. You just dropped to the floor. Yang and I tried to snap you out of it, but whenever we touched you, you screamed like you were being tortured. We left you alone after the third try. You passed out after a while so we moved you to your bed.”

She opened her eyes again, blinking rapidly to get her eyes to adjust. “What time is it?”

Roan shrugged, then looked outside at the sky. “I’d guess around 3:30. You weren’t out long.” ‘Not as long as the last time. That’s something at least.’

He moved closer, sitting next to Yang on his bed. Both of her partners had concern written all over their faces

“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to, but…” Roan sighed. “Do… do you have a history with the Fang?”

‘Oh no’

=================================

Ruby knocked again, a little bit louder than before.

“...please go away”

Weiss sounded different, and not in a good way. The normally uptight, slightly angry, and proud heiress sounded meek and small. She sounded...broken.

“Weiss, can I please come in? I just want to make sure you’re okay, that’s all. You don’t even have to say anything, if you don’t want to.”

She then sat down, her head leaning against the locked door, waiting.

‘She’ll have to come out eventually, so I’ll just have to wait here.’

As the thought entered her head, she heard the door unlock and slowly begin to open. She stood hurriedly, brushing off the dust that had gathered on her combat skirt.

Even through the small gap that she could see through, she could tell that Weiss was a wreck. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her mascara was running slightly. Her usually cold expression was gone, replaced with hurt. Ruby slowly, but purposely moved her way into the room. She sat next to the heiress, who was currently doing her best to turn into a ball, hugging her knees and hanging her head.

“... I’m sorry.”

Ruby scoffed. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry about Weiss.”

“but I ran from you.”

“You did. But you let me in here, didn’t you?”

Silence.

“Can I hug you Weiss?”

The heiress sniffled, then leaned against her shoulder. Taking this as a yes, Ruby wrapped her arms around her partner.

“She’ll be alright, Weiss. Big sisters always pull through.”

=================================

“Blake, calm down first of all. Neither of us are mad, we just want to talk about it.”

Roan was starting to get frustrated. At his question Blake had sprang towards the door, trying to run past them.

‘And Yang wondered why I asked her to lock the door’

With the door locked and Yang between her and the window, she had slowly started moving towards the bathroom. Roan had seen her and intercepted, moving in front of the door.

Currently, the cat Faunus was perched on top of her bed, her body hunched so that she could jump to avoid anyone that came near her.

“Blakey, do we look mad?” Yang asked.

Blake shook her head slowly at the brawler’s question, but did not move from her position.

Roan sighed. “Blake, we’re your partners. Your secrets are our secrets, even if we don’t know the exact details. Now, judging from how you went from recovering from a major panic attack to trying to get away from us as fast as possible, I’m going to guess that you’ve got some history with the Fang. Am I right in saying that?”

She looked conflicted. ‘Probably caught between wanting to tell us and making sure that her greatest secret stays that way.’

Blake then grew a look of cautious resolve. “Do you two swear not to tell anyone?”

Yang nodded and put a hand on her chest, saying, “I swear on my mother’s grave.”

Roan copied his partner. ‘I can only think of one thing that another Faunus would swear on for something this serious.’

“I swear on my aura.”

Blake’s expression went from worried to scared upon hearing their oaths. “You...you’re that serious about this? Both of you?”

The deer Faunus nodded. “Yes I am. Like I said, your secrets are our secrets, so I will treat them as such.”

Yang grinned. “Pretty much what he said Blake.”

“Okay. Okay, I...I’ll tell you. Not here though, too risky.”

Roan and Yang exchanged glances.

“You don’t want Weiss to know,” understanding clear in Yang’s tone. “But why? She’s not like her father. Her reaction to you and Roan are clear evidence of that.”

“I...I just don’t know how she’ll react. Please.”

“Okay okay. I won’t push it. Just...eventually you will have to tell her.” She looked tired, and worn beyond her years. Her eyes were dark and her ears were low underneath the bow.

Roan noticed something else then, something that made his eyes go very wide as he saw something peeking out just at the edge of Blake’s neck.

“Is that what I think it is, Blake? On your neck?” he asked haltingly.

Blake peered at him questioningly, then went pale again as she slowly looked down at the edge of what looked like a fresh bite wound.

She muttered a small, sorrowful, “...no.” before she dropped back down on her bed, boneless.

Yang looked from Blake to Roan, a bewildered expression on her face. “What the hell just happened?”

Roan sighed heavily before answering. “Things just got a lot more complicated.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess last time was a bit too soon huh? Next time, we’re talking about our emotions


	9. Relationships

Roan had been working on the last of his homework and listening to music when Blake had started screaming again. Ruby and Weiss had been quietly sitting on the heiress’s bed and Yang was at the gym with Pyrrha and Nora.

It was loud and haunting, like a Creep being tortured with a red hot poker. She thrashed violently, shredding Yang’s bed sheets with her suddenly claw-like fingernails. Roan immediately ran to her, trying to see what was wrong. Then he saw her ruined mark. It seemed to radiate pain with how red and angry it was.

He turned to the two startled girls behind him. “Get Yang. I’m going to try and help her. Be fast.” At his words, Ruby’s eyes hardened and she dashed out of the room, leaving her signature petals in her wake. Weiss stood, seemingly torn between following her partner and caring for her distressed teammate.

“Weiss, I’m going to need your help in a moment.” said the gunslinger as he focused his aura and began directing it to his forearm. His mind raced as he tried to remember the few lessons he’d had with his mother that pertained to aura healing.

‘Gather it, move it, and focus. Don’t panic, don’t worry, just feel.’ repeated the mantra that had been hammered into his head one particular winter. 

As he placed his palm to his forearm, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and the mild shaking that he hadn’t noticed stopped. He still felt worried for Blake, but it wasn’t as bad as it was. He turned to look at Weiss, her arm coated in white light.

“Who taught you how to do this?” he asked, guarded curiosity in his tone.

She shrugged. “I don’t remember. Father wouldn’t have thought it a skill worth having and I don’t think anyone else in that...house knows how to do this.”

Roan quirked an eyebrow. “Do you even know what this is?” The heiress shook her head, then looked at Blake. Roan huffed, then placed his palm onto Blake’s forehead. “We’re going to have a discussion later.” He felt Weiss’s agreement through her aura just as the door burst open. Yang and Ruby both made their way to their ailing teammate, who had stilled considerably from earlier.

Roan spoke, keeping his eyes on the cat Faunus the whole time. “Yang, Ruby, here’s what I want you to do. Gather your aura and focus it to your dominant forearm. Think positive while you do so, otherwise you might make Blake much worse. After you’ve done that, put your palm to your forearm and allow your aura to move there. Then put your hand on me, preferably my shoulder or neck.”

As Roan spoke, Blake’s mark seemed to shrink somewhat, though the red tint did not fade from it.  
‘Must be left over aura from the douchebag that gave this to her. How did it manage to not get rejected by her aura?”

The four then worked in relative silence, the only words being spoken were from Ruby and Yang letting Roan know that they were ready.

As the sisters joined in helping their teammate, Blake went completely still as the mark darkened, then faded as red mist curled up and out of her head. It solidified itself, forming a small red bull, which tossed its head and disappeared.

Blake sighed contentedly in her sleep and rolled over. Roan dispelled his aura, then helped Yang and Ruby do the same. The four of them then moved to the other side of the room, keeping quiet as to not rouse Blake.

Yang was the first to break the rather fragile silence. “So what the fuck?”

Roan snorted. “Which part? The part where Blake had a panic attack in her sleep, or the part where I knew what to do, or the part where we all used our auras to help Blake?”

The blonde leaned back against the wall, then sighed. “All of it. Just do all of it.”

Roan nodded. “I’ll start with the panic attack part, since that goes hand in hand with the rest of it. Do any of you know what a Mate’s Mark is?”

Weiss looked confused at the term, but Yang and Ruby’s eyes both widened considerably. “Yeah I kinda figured that’d be how that shook out. Weiss, a Mate’s Mark is something that only a Faunus can do. To simplify a rather complex process, we can basically bind our aura’s together, creating a link. I’ve got a book on the whole subject should you want to know more. The point is that Blakey over there had a first-stage mark, and a rather nasty one at that.”

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, careful to avoid his horns. “First-stagers are normally not permanent, and fade after about two weeks. Her’s on the other hand, was older than that. I’d wager it’s about three, maybe four months old.”

Ruby cocked her head to one side. “That doesn’t seem so bad.”

Roan smirked coldly. “Unless you take into account that the relationship ended badly. Really badly. Seems to me that whoever she bonded to has been lashing out at her, causing, well that.” he said, gesturing to a rather shredded piece of Yang’s bedsheet.

Weiss cleared her throat. “So Blake had an aura link with someone whom she had a relationship with at one point, which probably ended badly, leading her former partner to hurt her. I’m guessing that whatever we did stopped it?”

Roan nodded, then turned to look at Blake again as he spoke. “We purged the aura from her system, which should have destroyed the link. Souls are tricky though, so only time will tell if we managed to help her for good.”

“Souls? Don’t you mean aura?” asked the heiress.

Roan smiled again and turned to look at her. “Weiss, most Faunus, myself included, believe that a person’s aura is their soul. That’s why Mate’s Marks are so serious. It’s two people agreeing to bond their very souls together.”

Weiss nodded and then proceeded to play with the hem of her combat skirt. Yang cleared her throat. “So how’d you know how to do that?” she asked, gesturing to his forearm

“Mom taught me. Said it would be important for me to know how to heal should the need arise. Most people can’t, unless they’ve got a healing semblance.”

He raised his hand and let his aura soak into it, tinting the room emerald green. “It’s an old technique, long forgotten by most. I’m pretty sure my village is the only place that it’s still taught.” White joined green as Weiss copied his motions. She smiled nervously. “I guess I should go next right?”

Roan sat back, letting his aura return to its resting state as he regarded her. “You mentioned that you don’t know how you learned it?”

The heiress nodded and began to stare at her arm, still bathed in pale white light. “I had a lot of tutors growing up. There were at least three for every subject, and four for combat. Father hired new ones every two months, so I never got to know any of them very well. In fact the only constants in that house were Father, Whitley, and Klein. Father would think this was a waste of time anyway, so any tutors that could have taught it to me wouldn’t have made it inside the gates.”

Ruby looked like she was about to say something when Blake started to stir behind them. All four of them froze and Weiss’s aura dimmed as the cat Faunus yawned and sat up. She rubbed her eyes, then turned to look towards the rest of the team. “Did I pass out again?” she asked, tilting her head.

Yang scratched the back of her head, then looked at Roan. “Not exactly. I think we need to have a talk. All of us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...yeah. Mate’s Marks aren’t my idea, I give all the credit to I_OmegaInfinity_I for that particular idea. Next time, the team’s probably gonna talk. Might change my mind though. Did I mention I’m a bit scatterbrained?


End file.
